The present invention relates to a strip of biological tissue and to a system and method that may be employed to seal tissue.
It has been known to use stapling devices to seal visceral tissue upon resection thereof. However, stapling of the lungs can result in an air leak, which is detrimental to the health of the patient. This is especially true when the resection is used to accomplish xe2x80x9clung reductionxe2x80x9d. Since the lung reserves of such patients are very limited, even a small air leak can be detrimental and, in some circumstances, even fatal. Similar issues relating to leaks may occur during gastric reduction or bypass procedures. That is, if the stomach and/or intestinal tract are not sufficiently sealed during a gastric bypass procedure, some of the stomach fluids could leak into the abdominal cavity and, in turn, cause infection or other conditions.
In order to minimize the foregoing problem, pericardial or collagen tissue has been used in conjunction with a surgical stapler. Typically, the pericardial tissue is retained on the jaws by a cloth or plastic sleeve. However, this makes the procedure cumbersome and awkward. The foregoing is particularly true if the procedure is endoscopic. In other circumstances, an adhesive material may be employed to temporarily hold the tissue on the jaws of the stapler.
A surgical stapler includes three principal parts. One contains the staples, the other constitutes an anvil which receives the staples and initiates bending them in the proper direction, and the third, which is optional, is a knife which puts the final bend on the staples and cuts the tissue where desired.
A surgical stapler usually is designed to insert either two or four rows of staples, which are spaced apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the stapler jaws. In certain cases, a knife may be employed to cut between the rows of staples to longitudinally divide tissue on opposed sides of the staple lines.
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
One aspect of the present invention provides a strip that may be utilized with a surgical stapler, such as to seal and divide selected tissue of a patient. The strip is formed of an elongated sheet of flexible, biocompatible material, such as treated biological material (e.g., pericardium, collagen, etc.). The elongated sheet has a leading end spaced apart from a trailing end by an elongated intermediate portion. Retaining elements are located adjacent the leading and trailing ends of the sheet for retaining the respective ends relative to parts of the surgical stapler. The sheet also includes an aperture that extends through the intermediate portion of the sheet at a location between the retaining elements, which aperture is operative to receive an alignment feature of the surgical stapler.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a system that may be used with a surgical stapler. The system includes first and second strips of biocompatible tissue material. The first strip includes leading and trailing ends spaced apart from each other by an elongated intermediate portion. First and second retailing elements are associated with the respective leading and trailing ends of the first strip to retain respective ends of the first strip relative to part of the surgical stapler. An aperture extends through the intermediate portion of the first strip at a position between the first and second retaining elements to receive an alignment feature of the surgical stapler. The second elongated strip also includes a leading end spaced apart from a trailing end by an elongated intermediate portion. First and second retaining element are located adjacent the respective leading and trailing ends of the second strip to retain respective ends of the second strip relative to part of the surgical stapler. A bridge of material may interconnect the first and second strips, which bridge may be cut to provide a pair of strips for use with the surgical stapler.
According to another aspect of the present invention, one or more strips may be attached to opposed jaws of a surgical stapler for sealing and or dividing selected tissue that may be positioned between the jaws. For example, when a single elongated strip is employed, ends of the strip are attached the distal ends of opposed jaws of the stapler. A retaining ring is utilized to urge an intermediate section of the strip away from the distal ends, such that different segments of the strip on opposed sides of the ring are oriented generally coextensively with faces of the respective jaws. By way of further example, when two strips are employed, each strip is mounted generally coextensively relative to a face of a different jaw. As a result, tissue interposed between the strips or strip segments may be stapled by actuating the stapler.